


This Be The Verse

by DeadTropeSociety



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Ensemble Cast, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Post-Season/Series 01, The Other 36, Time Shenanigans, anyone want to Beta? asking for Ben, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-19 19:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20662577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadTropeSociety/pseuds/DeadTropeSociety
Summary: A long time ago, in a timeline far far away… seven morons tried to stop the apocalypse and failed. Miserably. Now, in order to stop the world from ending again, all they have to do is relive their hellish childhoods and save their sister’s sanity, all while staying under the Commission's radar. Which would be so much easier if good ol’ Sir Reggie didn’t have so many damn secrets.To top it all off, what they (even Five, in his infinite temporal wisdom) failed to realize is that, just because they left the first timeline to literally die in a fire, does not mean it has no effect on their new lives. Especially since the Commission is far from done with them.





	This Be The Verse

This be The Verse  
Episode One: Same Song, Different Tune  
Part One

If you are interested in stories that are entirely predictable and believable, look elsewhere, because the dictionary kind of lost predictable about three decades ago when forty three women gave birth to babies that they had not previously been carrying. Believable followed twelve years after when seven of those kids were paraded around the world as a crime fighting force and no one said jack diddly about about child endangerment.

My generation was far too busy wanting to be them, pretending to have powers and drawing umbrella tattoos on our wrist. One or two of us even got the real tattoo and a real asswhooping by real pissed parents to go with it… not that I know anything about that personally. 

We were young, dumb and completely unable to see through Ben’s fragile smile when asked anything about his powers, or the fact that Klaus was drugged off his ass ninety percent of the time, or the fact that no one ever seemed to ask what happened to that one kid who was with them for the first few months then just disappeared. 

Nothing seemed odd or concerning until the family’s redheaded lesbian stepchild wrote that tell all book and then all the old biddys just knew all along that something hadn’t been right. Not that they ever said anything because of course it would have been obvious. 

Then again, daddy Hargreaves was an old, well respected, and obscenely rich white man so maybe in retrospect that’s the most believable part of all this.

But that doesn’t negate what I was saying because, whatever the morality of the situation, we all read the comics, devoured the interviews and saw the poorly shot news footage of their battles. Zombie Robots, shrink rays and crazy ass machines that let people literally suck the life out of others a la Dr. Terminal did not happen before the magical baby boom. 

The sad part is that it all gets weirder. 

Now I know by now everyone’s seen it, the videos posted online that are supposedly of another timeline of the Hargreave children trying to stop the apocalypse and failing miserably. Half the world is taking bets on if it’s an elaborate prank by those motherfuckers or it’s real. The academy is kind of keeping mum about it, but then again they do have more pressing issues going on right now. 

Suffice it to say, It’s real. And how do I know? 

Fucking Baby Boomers. Let’s just leave it at that.

Am I the only one who thought that the ten hour highlight reel of the world's most dysfunctional family of superheroes trying to stop the end of the world is a bit like watching a train wreck in slow motion? So terrible and beautiful and oddly mesmerizing that you forget to get the fuck out of the way before you get smacked in the face with a smokestack. 

Now that we are all sitting here nursing the proverbial broken nose, I can pick up right where the video left, because I am a lazy fuck who hates doing work that has already been done. 

As about a quarter of the moon came racing towards earth, these idiots had about a minute to pull a miracle out of their asses, so naturally it came from the only one of them that had two brain cells to rub together. 

Then again Five had the ability to time travel and was damned if he was going to let his idiots die this time around. So they all gathered around like the kindergartners they never got to be and joined hands. Even Vanya, who was unconscious, and Ben, who was dead, were invited to the party. 

If Five’s reentry into their lives was explosive, dropping six other people into the court yard was a hundred times worse. He could hear Deloris berating him already for that, off the cuff quantum physics with passengers was not something he you wanted to do in a rush or without scratch paper. Then again it wasn’t like he was stressed and under a time crunch or anything.

“You couldn’t have put us down any softer?” Diego asked, brushing the snow from his clothes. 

“How about next time we leave the time travel to you and see if you do any better.” 

“Maybe I will. Every time you do it, someone gets stuck as a thirteen year old and I worked hard for those guns,” he said, motioning to what had once been an impressive set of biceps. 

It took Diego a couple seconds but, once he realized what had happened, the poor bastard was completely shattered. His guns were no longer guns...they were water pistols, and unloaded ones at that. 

Trapping the others in their younger bodies hadn’t been Five’s intention — his attention had been a bit preoccupied with saving their asses from the end of the world, thank you very much — but he had to admit it gave him a delicious sense of schadenfreude. 

Diego wasn’t the only one who had been affected by Five’s miscalculations. Luther, now hairless and lean, had been thrown so hard by the momentum of the jump had skidded through the snow, knocking over a wrought iron bench and kept going until his head was just a fraction of an inch from punching a hole in the kitchen wall. Both girls, now girls indeed instead of women, were cradled protectively against Number One’s chest, which was a good thing seeing as how even before his Discovery Channel transformation, Luther’s powers were always super strength and durability. If they had gone through the wall, his thick empty skull could take it a lot better than theirs could. 

Klaus, largely tattoo-less and looking far healthier than he had in years, had landed in a piece of particularly thorny shrubbery, his face uncomfortably close to a part of Ben that hadn’t been solid for far too long. Not that he tended to be particularly picky about who put their junk in his face, but he did kind of draw the line at his own brother. He wasn’t Allison for Christ’s sake. 

“You look like a kid,” Klaus said.

“No shit. We just covered that, dumb ass,” Diego hissed.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Klaus said, waving a single finger in Diego’s direction.

Ben snorted. “Like you’re one to talk. Go find a nine volt to lick.” 

Ben just laid there, long after Klaus had picked himself up, high on all the sensations he hadn’t felt in over a decade. The sharp caresses of the wind. The prick of thorns. The painful rumbling of his intestines protesting whatever milk or gluten Grace used in dinner that night. The ice melting into his asscrack. He was loving it all. 

“Ben? You’re here?” Luther asked as he walked over, righting the bench on his way, Vanya still cradled against his shoulder.

“I’ve stuck around. Did you miss that part of the show?” 

Who could have? The reappearance of Ben and his ghostly bentacles would have stolen the show if Vanya hadn’t blown up the moon. Not that Ben particularly minded. V was far over due for a show stealing moment.

“Well no but…” 

Oh God had Fives missed Ben. There had been several weeks in the apocalypse between finding his siblings bodies and finding Vanya’s book, that Five held out an irrational hope -- and yes Deloris, he was aware that it was irrational -- that at least one of his siblings was alive. But as fun as all this was to watch, there was far too much else going on for entertainment. 

“Not that having you back isn’t great — really it is, Ben — but we have bigger issues right now.” 

“Story of our lives, really.” Allison muttered. “It would be nice if we could figure out where we are and get inside before someone catches something. It’s cold.” 

“I think the where is kind of obvious.” Diego quipped.

“I meant the time, dipshit.” Allison bit back. 

“Somewhere between two thirty and four.” Luther said.

It was one of those moments of stunned silence so profound, even the wildlife seemed to shut the hell up. The birds quit screeching in their incessant quest to find someone to fuck. The frogs stopped making that weird farting noise they did with their throats. Even the stars themselves seemed to stop in silent judgement of this man. Not that he seemed to notice...

“What?” Diego asked.

Luther just shrugged, not looking down from the stars.“Well it’s a little hard to tell with the position of the moon since I don’t know exactly when sundown was, but in winter it’s usually—” 

“We were talking about year wise.” Allison said.

“I knew that.” 

To be fair, he probably did, and it’s not like the time would have been useless information. They would need it to tell where everyone else was likely to be. But no one, even Luther, really feel like making that case with Ben laughing his now corporeal ass off.

“You know we can see you now, right.” He said to Ben. Ben just shrugged.

~~~

True or False: When you’re a teenage killing machine with an over controlling daddy and live in almost complete isolation from the rest of the world, you tend to sneak out at every available opportunity? True. Oh God, so true. 

One would think that made them experts on sneaking back in, and usually you would be right. Not this time. 

Here’s a quick lesson on the lay out of the academy: it’s a three story square building that takes up a whole city block, sidewalk to sidewalk. In the middle is a square courtyard, completely enclosed so that from above the whole complex looks a bit like one of those cookies with the middle cut out of it (which is a waste of perfectly good cookie space if you ask me, but then again I'm not an architect.). 

There are forty three bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms, and an ass load of training rooms, libraries, galleries, storage rooms, ect. There are not cameras in all of them and if you don’t think these kids memorized every blind spot, particularly those connected to a fire escape, you may just be channeling your inner Luther for a moment. 

Our heroes are stuck in the inside of the cookie hole, but all the fire escapes lead to the outside meaning their usual routes wouldn’t work. So they were reduced to playing a high stakes game of don’t wake daddy.

The quest for silence and stealth wasn’t going well, especially given how they were all stuck in clothes made for people twice as large as they were. Or closer to four times in Luther’s case. 

The second time Luther tripped over his own pants, Diego almost had an aneurysm, and strangely it wasn’t because their unconscious sister was in danger of tumbling from the esteemed Number One’s arms. His reason was in fact a bit more practical. 

“Would you be quiet!” Diego hissed. “You want to try and explain this shit to Dad or Pogo?”

Klaus shrugged in his brother’s defense. “Chillax. There’s no one here to catch us. Even the old bastard has to sleep sometime.” 

“Sometime sure, but with our luck there’s no way it would be now.” Five said.

“Well it looks like we caught a break, Bruder mein Lieber, because all three parental figures — if the old man even counts — are out for the night.” 

“And how could you possibly know that?” Alison asked, pausing mid step.

“The Nanny told me,” Klaus said as if it were nothing. 

“The Nanny?”

I have to say that despite the plethora of amazing shit about this family, one of the things that always seemed to border on the unbelievable was just how much they seemed to forget that Klaus can see ghosts. Sure the conjuring part of his abilities were dependent on his state of intoxication or lack therefore of, but he can never turn off his inner Haley Jole. He can just turn off his ability to notice or care. 

“Apparently we went through quite a few of them before Grace arrived. Little V especially, who would have thought, and many of them are quite unhappy with how dear papa treats us… or they are pissed that he didn’t tell them they were going to be watching a hoard of super powered little hellions. It’s about a sixty forty split.” 

“Are you high?” Luther asked.

Klaus shook his head. “Don’t think so, thirteen year old body and all. It was a lot harder to get the good stuff then. I figure it’s either I hadn’t crashed from the adrenaline, or little me was able to convince Grace for seconds of desert. Hard to tell.” 

“If we’re in our old bodies, then how do you explain the clothes?” Diego asked.

“Good question.” Alison said as they all turned to look at Five, expecting an answer. 

The young (old?) man just rolled his already drooping eyes and wished desperately for some decent coffee. Or something a great deal stronger if he had to explain the result of quantum physics, string theory, and a couple different branches of science that didn’t exactly have a name just yet.

“Let’s just say the math would go over you morons’ heads and leave it at that.” 

“Love you to, Bro.” Diego said. 

They continued on in silence for a total of three more steps before Luther tripped again, and Diego's aneurysm came back.

“Okay, Okay, hold up,” Klaus said, before Number Two could say anything. “This clothing thing isn’t working and not just because Luther is a fashion train wreck.” 

“Excuse me?” Luther said, actually affronted at the accusation.

Allison, who had spent several years amongst the most fashionable people of the world, tended to agree. But would never say so out loud because, not only would that be mean and she actually liked Luther, but she didn’t actually give a shit about his fashion choices anymore then she did Klaus’s. That did not, in fact, stop her from silently laughing at the whole exchange...behind Luther’s back, of course. 

“Put Vanya down and take off your pants,” Klaus said motioning to a nearby couch before shimmying out of his own pants. 

“I am not getting into those.” 

“I wouldn’t let you in my pants anyways. Furries are one of the few kinks I don’t have.” Klaus said with a wicked little smile.

“Jesus, Klaus, I thought you had some standards.” Ben muttered. Klaus just blew him a little kiss and started pulling out the decorative leather strings that had once ran up the sides of his own pants.

“I was actually just going to turn them into a backpack,” he said to Luther “You’re not the only one having trouble and there is no way we can all take the stairs like this. Don’t get your panties in a bunch -- actually they might need to go too since you no longer have your womanly figure, they might not stay up.” 

“Klaus!”

“Your shirt will act like a dress big guy, and you won’t trip over it.” 

Luther wasn’t exactly happy with the solution, but it was the best they had so he forked over his pants with only a minimal amount of grumbling. Within moments all four of them (Ben and Five had landed in size appropriate clothing and it kind of felt wrong to undress their unconscious sister unless they absolutely had to so Vanya got to stay in her very stylish concert tux). 

“So why am I stuck carrying this and Vanya,” Luther asked as they made it up the stairs. The bag Klaus had made wasn’t the most comfortable of contraptions, but as far as survival packs went, it was a fair job.

“Super Strength. Super Durability. Super Pack Mule.” Ben said, ticking each option off on his fingers. “I would think the answer was obvious.” 

Luther just stared at Ben, trying to remember if Number Six had been quite as much of an asshole before this death or if that was a recent development. He then decided that thirteen years with only Klaus for company would do that to anyone.

After a few more moments of silence, Diego turned to Klaus and asked, “That ghost lookout thing with the Nannies, you learn that in Nam. Is that why you could never did it as kids?” 

“There were no nanny’s in Nam. But yeah, when I was sober enough some of the guys didn’t mind looking out from beyond the grave. Give us a heads up on the Viet Cong.” 

Allison, who had been walking beside them, stopped and turned to look at Klaus and Diego. 

“What the Fuck?” She hissed. Nam? Viet Cong? History may never have been her strongest subject, but even she remembered that shit had been long over way before they had been born. 

Klaus sighed. It was a story he didn’t particularly wish to cover at the moment, but he was prepared to. It wasn’t like they were going to just let the topic go.

“Remember when Hazel and Cha Cha shot up the house?” 

“Vaguely, Yes.” Allison said dryly.

“Well sometime during that little shuffle they kidnapped me.” 

“We knew that too,” Luther said.

One and Three are good people, in their own ways, and there are few others you would want to go on a mission with because they can be absolutely deadly at times in their single mindedness. That single mindedness can also lead to a good dose of obliviousness to everything outside their target. 

If that obliviousness wasn’t showing itself with a painful clarity they would have noticed several things. The way Klaus’s small smile got just a bit tighter at their dismissive tones and the way he clutched at a set of dog tags he hadn’t had several days previous. They would have noticed that quite frankly, he didn’t want to talk about this right now and hopefully would have backed off. 

They did not however, notice. So they were quite surprised when Klaus begin to get more than a little irritated at them.

“Did you know that they tortured me for over ten hours and no one even noticed I was gone? I escaped and stole their magic briefcase, not knowing what it really was and landed my ass in a war zone.” 

“But you weren’t there long, you had the briefcase.” Luther said. 

“You would think the new tattoos would be the first clue it wasn’t just a day trip.” Five muttered, causing Diego and Ben to snicker.

“So how long were you there?” Allison asked.

“Ten months.”

“Ten months! The world was ending and you just fuck off for ten months. What the hell were you thinking Klaus?” 

There was a lot Klaus could say to that. He could point out that the world was still ending when Luther decided to get drunk and high at a rave. He could point out that the world was still ending with Allison decided she would die with Claire then fight at Luther’s side. He could point out that Diego said fuck it as well and went on his own little quest of revenge rather then help clean up what turned out to be Daddy Dearest’s mess. 

But you see Klaus (at least sober Klaus) was one of the nicer Hargreave children. Not that that was saying much really, so instead of pointing all those truths, he made his point in three little words.

“Fuck you, Luther.” 

And with that he walked down the hall to his childhood bedroom and slammed the door so hard the others could feel the vibrations in the walls. 

“Did you guys knew about this?” Luther asked, turning to the boys.

“He time traveled. Of course I knew.” Five scoffed.

“He was acting weird… or weirder for Klaus, so I asked.” Diego said.

Luther turned to Ben, anger on his face. “I take it you went with him.”

“Actually no. When he got back he wanted to get clean so I asked why. It’s not difficult.” 

“How did we not know about this?” Allison asked, probably not actually expecting an answer, but she should have known better. Not when Ben had a bone to pick and was able to properly vent said frustrations. 

“The real question is how are you two surprised?” He said, causing the whole family to look at him. “It’s not like he could come home. Dad would look at him like he was just a piece of shit for leaving the academy even though he drove Klaus away, and you Luther, you'd follow dad in everything.To you he has always been just a junkie. Why would Klaus tell you anything?”

“That’s not--” Luther started, but Ben never gave him a chance to finish.

“And you Allison, did anyone besides Luther, have a way to get in touch with you in California. A Phone number? A way to write that wasn’t through your fan club? The only people you invited to your wedding were your actor friends and we all had to find out about Claire through the tabloids. You guys isolated yourselves from the rest of us and then wonder why you’re not kept in the loop.” 

“That’s not fair.” Allison said. As an actress, especially one with a fair few awards under her belt, her words should not sound quite so hollow to her own ears. “No one got in touch with anyone.”

“That’s bullshit,” Ben said. “I may have been dead but I wasn’t blind. Diego would check in on him every so often and I know his heart stopped just a little every time someone mentioned an overdose on the police radio. Vanya would let him crash on her couch when the weather got real nasty and the shelters full. Diego and Vanya used to go out for coffee every couple of months or so...at least until the book dropped.

“Sure they weren’t close, but they at least tried...some. What about you?”

Alison’s lips moved like she wanted to say something for a few seconds before accepting the fact that nothing she said could take the sting of truth out of Ben’s words.

What an odd feeling it must be to lose a brother so young and violently, get him back due to time travel shenanigans only to have the first real conversation you have with him be him tearing you a new asshole for neglecting the rest of your family. I am happy to report that I, personally, have never felt this odd feeling. 

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Ben said, following Klaus down the hall. 

~~~

Deciding that Vanya’s literal broom closet of a bedroom was far too small for a family meeting, and knowing Allison would not leave their sister’s side, Luther deposited Vanya onto Allison’s bed just in time for Two, and Four to rejoin them.

“Would you believe that mini me had nothing better than MJ to flush? I’m almost disappointed,” Klaus said with an exaggerated pout. 

None of the academy was really much into hugs. Perhaps it was a result of a largely loveless childhood, but that didn’t stop Allison from getting up and wrapping her arms across Klaus’s shoulders. With almost no hesitation he returned the gesture.

“I’m so sorry Klaus. For everything.” She whispered in his ear.

The surprise melted off his face, “It’s okay Allison, it’s been a long week.” 

“For more than that.” 

Diego could see the confusion soaking into Klaus’s face and decided to throw him a bone. “Ben had a few things to say after you stormed off.” 

“Ah.” 

Ben may stay mostly out of the family’s petty shit but once something got under his skin he went for the jugular with his words. That bitch did not hold back. 

Speaking of that bitch, Ben chose that moment to enter the room, holding a piece of paper and an unopened three pack of disposable cameras. 

“I found today's date on some homework. It’s two days before Five takes off for the future.” 

“That’s great but what’s with the cameras?” Diego asked.

“I found them in Klaus’s room. It’s probably a good idea not to ask why he has them --”

“Probably right on that one,” Klaus agreed.

“But i was thinking one of us can sneak into Dad’s office and take pictures of that notebook. If we put it back Dad will never know. I say we send Klaus since he knows where it is and has that whole ghost look out thing going for him.”

“Why do you gotta volunteer me for this?” Klaus whined.

“I just told you.” 

“That’s actually not a bad plain.” Five said. 

“Well what about the surveillance cameras? We need to take care of them or there’s no point trying to keep all this from dad at all.” Allison said.

“I’m on it.” Ben said, which was a good thing seeing as how he’s pretty much the only member of the team that was decently skilled with technology.

“You know it’s kind of funny, really. The team is working together better than ever and this time the mission is against dad. Irony is kind of beautiful, really.” FIve said, leaning against the wall. 

“Why are we even bothering to keep this from Dad?” Deaigo said and decided to elaborate upon seeing the are-you-fucking-kidding-me looks he was getting from every one of his siblings. “We’re grown men and women. We do not have to just take his shit, especially now that we know it actually is just shit.” 

“Actually we do,” Five said, “We came back to save Vanya, and we can’t draw attention to ourselves while doing it.” 

“But isn’t that what we came back to do — Change it all?” Luther said.

“No you moron,” Fives said, “Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“For him? Yes.” Diego said nodding in Luther's direction.

“Oh like you understand any better than I do.” 

“It’s not complicated.” Five said with an exasperated sigh, “The commission comes after anyone who could fuck with the timeline. Seven people time traveling thirteen years in the past to stop the apocalypse is not something they will take kindly to. Sure, because we’re in our past bodies it gives us a little bit of leeway but anything too major will catch their attention and that’s the last thing we want.” 

“But I thought you took care of them.” Klaus said, “Isn’t that what you were doing during the day that got erased?” 

“We’re in the past so he hasn’t done that yet.” Poor Diego he looks so proud of himself for that half intelligent thought. Too bad Five was going to have to burst his bubble. 

“Yes and no. I don’t have the time or patients to explain temporal fluctuations to you morons.”

“So which is it?” Luther commanded.

“Let’s just say that the stunt I pulled at headquarters didn’t take care of them all. What’s left won’t know we weren’t vaporized with the rest of the world, but if we’re not careful eventually we will have to deal with them.” 

“Well shit.” Diego breathed.

“Yep.”

“So what’s the plain?” Diego asks.

Luther looks up from where Vanya was resting on the bed (or maybe he was really looking at Allison sitting on the bed beside her. It’s hard to tell sometimes).

“Um… stop the apocalypse.” 

“We already tried that. This time we actually need to succeed.” Alison said. 

“It’s Dad.” 

Everyone looked at Ben. “He caused all of this by fucking us up in a hundred different ways.”

“Is it, though. I mean Vanya’s the one who ended the world. Not Dad.” 

“Dad drugged her her entire life.” Allison said her voice soft and defensive as she slid between Luther and Vanya, desperate to protect her sister from Number One’s misguided pragmatism. 

“So we flush the pills,” Diego said, trying to head off the storm brewing between One and Three. 

“Let’s not.” Klaus said. 

Everyone looked at him, a cruel and hurtful comment heavy on nearly every tongue, but with Ben’s reason you suck speech still fresh in their minds, they were smart enough to bite down.

“Maybe you should explain that one to the whole class,” Ben said. 

“Oh right, withdraw is a bitch.” 

“We know.” Diego said.

“Yeah but head meds fuck with your head. I have no idea what this shit is, but I doubt Daddy dearest was going the placebo route. Going cold turkey could make her grouchy as hell, impulsive, and maybe even hallucinate. And with her powers… Not pretty.” 

“How long had she been off her meds again?” Diego asked, the same idea hitting most of them at once.

“Three or four days, I think.” Allison said. 

“Withdraw could have been a factor.” Five muttered. 

Luther lunged, grabbing the bottle out of Allison’s hand. For half a second he struggled with the child proof top before Diego through a knife, nicking his hand just enough to make him drop the bottle without doing any real damage. 

“What the hell Luther!” Allison said as Klaus dived for the bottle. 

“She’s still dangerous!” 

“We’re not drugging our sister while she is unconscious!” Klaus said, holding the bottle behind his back, fully willing to play keep away if need be. 

“If she’s still in her younger body then her system is saturated. She can afford to miss a dose or two while she’s unconscious. We’ll explain when she wakes up and see where she wants to go from there.” Ben said. 

“And what if she says no?” Luther sneered.

“We find something else.” Allison said. 

“I can’t do that,” Luther said, knocking Klaus over with one hand and catching the soaring bottle with the other, “I can’t risk you getting hurt again.” 

If there was one thing Ben did not miss in death, it was the constant squirming of the Horror beneath his skin. Pushing at his skin, sometimes desperate to kill and sometimes desperate to just move. But always just desperate. 

Right now, they were ready to smack Luther around a bit. Not kill him, never kill him. But the monkey needed to be taught a lesson. That was the second time in as many days he used Klaus as a punching bag and it was bad enough Ben had to watch that kind of thing happen on the streets when he could do nothing, he would be damned if it happened at home when he had a body to act with.

Before he could do anything, however, someone else beat him to the punch. 

“I heard a rumor you were going to rig the cameras with Ben and you didn’t mention drugging Vanya again.” Allison said, wet streaks racing down her cheeks. 

~~~

To say Luther was confused and hurt as he walked down the hall towards the video room was a bit like saying the Titanic had a run in with a bit of an ice cube. The effects of the rumor still echoing around in his ears he couldn’t turn back, couldn’t throw himself between Allison and the danger even if he wanted to. And God did he want to. 

“Stop brooding Luther,” Ben said, bending down to pick the lock, “It’s annoying even when it’s silent.” 

“She rumored me.”

“I saw.”

“How could she?” He was in shock.

Ben looked at him 

“How is it any different then you choking Klaus out and throwing him across the room when he wouldn’t give you drugs?” If Luther wasn’t still in shock over Allison he would have noticed Ben’s anger.

“I..I was drunk.” 

“And what about when Vanya came to you, crying over what she did to Allison. You gave her a hug, told her it was all going to be alright and then you cut off her air supply until she passed out. Then you threw her in that room like it was nothing.” 

“She was dangerous. She hurt Allison!” 

“We’re all dangerous; we were just taught to control it. Dad just kept Vanya drugged so she never knew… And really Luther, don’t pretend you would be half as worked up if any one but Allison got hurt.” 

Luther looked down. “I..I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Sure, Jan.”

“What?”

Of course the dead brother would know more about modern memes then Luther. Why was Ben even surprised?“Nothing.” 

There’s a moment of silence while Ben adjusts the tapes. It’s not exactly a simple task, but then again, it’s not like it’s the first time Benny has had to cover their asses this way. Luther is silent while he thinks Ben’s words over.

“Do you know what the real problem is, Luther?” Ben asked.

“No, but I'm sure you’ll tell me.” Luther replies, tired. 

“Dad trained you to be the captain of a team, not the big brother of a family.” 

“It’s the same thing.” 

Ben just shakes his head sadly. 

“If you know so much, enlighten me.” 

Ben is quiet for a second, trying to figure out how to word it. 

“Well, to start, teams are temporary and everyone’s replaceable. In sports people are always retiring or getting injured or failing a drug test or whatever. When that happens the quarterback is replaced and the seasons go on. Once the old member is out, their out. No more practices, no more team meetings, no more nothing. No more team. 

“We were always meant to be expendable, Luther. Isn’t that what Dad said when he introduced the academy to the world ‘the inaugural class?’ There was always meant to be more.” 

“You’re not going to die again, Ben.” Luther said in a rare bit of insight.

Ben looked up, pleasantly surprised. “That would be nice, but that’s not actually where I was going with this. 

“When everyone left and you stayed, you stopped being their leader and you were never their big brother...because you were never taught to be. It was like you were a team captain just waiting for the roster to get refilled.

“When I was dead I had a lot of time to people watch. in Families -- real families -- no one leaves. Even when they can or will no longer contribute to the common goal, be it winning the game or beating the bad guys. And when new people come in, it just gets bigger. 

“You’re saying we need to change strategy?”

Ben nods.

“But I don’t know how to be anything other than what he made me.” 

Luther looks so conflicted. It’s been a hard few days for him. 

“I’ve got some books I could lend you.”


End file.
